


A Shadow in Spring

by fell_on_black_days, RangersRangelog



Series: Rangers on High [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Child Neglect, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Involuntary Servitude, Neglect, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Domestic Violence, Ranger - Freeform, Smut, Warlock - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:54:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28864371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fell_on_black_days/pseuds/fell_on_black_days, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RangersRangelog/pseuds/RangersRangelog
Summary: Tiatha Malanmark is a quiet hunter with her own demons. Geoff Lowe is a ranger in debt to an ancient fey being. When their paths collide they find themselves inexplicably drawn together. Written by a DM and the rangelock playing Geoff.
Relationships: Original D&D Character(s)/Original D&D Character(s)
Series: Rangers on High [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116725
Kudos: 1





	1. A Short Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geoff prepares to leave the farm to go on a journey.

Geoff looked around the farmhouse one last time. The dishes were packed away in the cupboards. The water pipes closed and drained, the last of the food stowed in his bag. The scuffs and marks of his life alone still clear in the wood. Rubbing a hand along the support beam he hoped his parents would understand his decision to leave finally. 

Stepping outside he gently closed the door knowing there would not be a return for some time. Several of the wolves had come to the home and waited for him to speak. Kneeling down he gently rubbed the matriarch’s head. “I’ll be goin’, I need to…” he hesitated for a while still unsure of what he wanted in life.

_Find mate?_ Moon Dancer asked.

“Maybe? You all have been great but I don’t have friends or anythin’ here.” he said being as always far to honest.

_Find mate, find pack be happy._ She said still enjoying the head rubs.

“Yah, maybe i will find some friends. But not here, watch the farm till i get back?” he asked.

_Protect_. she insisted as the rest of the pack moved back towards the wood line.

“I'll see you soon momma wolf.” He said hugging her which earned him several licks. 

_Be good pup_. She said nosing him to go.

Geoff stood and started off towards the south, towards the town, and hopefully towards Smoothbell. Where, if the fates were kind, some friends would be.


	2. Dark Memories

Tiatha sighed as she and Geoff found a quiet tree to sit in. Her leg had recovered fully after another bout of healing earlier that week and she figured now was the time to discuss her family history. Especially with how close they were going to be to the border within the next few weeks. It didn’t help that she may recognize whatever nobles they were about to escort further south. She wasn’t sure if she could handle being called “Lady Mallanmark” again.

“So… what would you like to know?” she asked, unable to meet his bright blue eyes.

“Well since this is new to me and all, I guess the first thing is the ring and why you have it,” he said leaning back against the tree.

She bit her lip, unsure of where to begin. “Well, I was born into house Mallanmark in Imammelle. It’s one of the noble lodges among the drow and winter court.”

“I see.” He said, leaning forward some, curious now. “And given what you acted when we talked on the roof, I take you didn’t leave in the best manner.”

“I- no,” she sighed. “My brother and I had a falling out. He… wanted my life to go in one direction and I couldn’t accept it.”

“And what direction would that be?” he said, squinting at her in a questioning manner.

She shivered in a way unrelated to the cold night air. “He um, he had arranged a marriage for me. It would have benefited the house but…” She curled into herself, unable to continue that train of thought without panicking.

Geoff squinted hard as he sensed her fear and slight panic. “You would been nothin’ more than a broodmare then?” he asked a little fire in his eyes at the prospect of someone treating family like that.

“At best,” she replied. “It’s tradition in my family to marry off women into the fey courts. My brother had selected a particularly… cruel archfey that he wished to ally with.”

“Fuck…” Geoff said, the fire growing in his eyes as he leaned forward. “And your cunt of a brother would sell you like that. Fuck em, I’m glad you’re here now.”

At the insult to her brother she shot him a harsh look. “Tallen was doing what he could. He’s not to blame for this.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “It’s not his fault he was born the only male to a troubled house.”

“Marriages aren’t supposed to be deals or for allying. There is supposed to be love and respect and desire. I would never do that to any of my children. It's wrong on so many levels.”

Tiatha felt her anger rising as she looked over to the other ranger. “Well be damn glad you were born on a farm Geoff Lowe. Not all of us have that luxury. My leaving may have very well damned my entire family to a hellish existence! Even if I were to go back now and somehow repair all the damage I’ve done, my suffering would never amount to a proper penance!”

“Luxury? Almost starving to death because the cattle died and you couldn’t pull in the harvest fast enough is a luxury?” He spat at her, his eyes glowing not only from the pale moonlight. 

She was just as unwilling to back down, raising the corner of her shirt to reveal a web of scars across her waist as she shouted, “There are more ways than one to suffer! These were a  _ gift _ from my father. He felt his children needed to understand pain if we were to rise to the occasion. You have no idea what I’ve been through, so don’t lecture me about starving in the cold!”

Geoff tore off his armor and shirt to reveal his chest, “This one, bear age eight, damn near killed me. That one was from a trap another farmer set to try and kill me. This one,” He pointed to one near his sternum. “Arrow from a fucker that almost did me in when I was eleven.” He was fuming now. “I have suffered just as much as you, and i never earned it, all because of who I was and that I was alone.”

“I never said you didn’t!” she screamed. She forced a breath out through her teeth as she lay back into the tree, trying to refocus. “I just…” she felt frustrated tears starting to pour and turned her face away. “I’m sorry. I- I’ve never talked about this. To anyone.”

Geoff saw her distress and pulled a piece of cloth from a pocket to shift closer and wipe them from her eyes. He still looked angry some but had cooled off some. “I haven’t either, I don’t think anyone knows what scars I have on the inside either.”

In a rare moment of vulnerability for her, she let him dry her face, taking a shuddering breath as she finished calming down. “When I was a girl, my mother told me she wished I’d died at birth. She knew what would happen to me and had no way to stop it. My father was a terror. He did unspeakable things. To her. My brother. Me. When she died I felt almost jealous. I…” She stopped herself from going further, not ready to share much more yet.

She shook her head, refocusing on his original question. “By the time we were grown, Tallen and I had no idea what to do other than what we were taught. He was presented with an opportunity to solidify his place and outmaneuver my father and he took it. He assumed that I would be alright with it and arranged it without telling me. When I found out, I stole a horse and ran.”

Geoff looked at her, his anger subsiding, and worked his head around everything. In one of his usual act before thinking tendencies he said, “Tiatha as long as I am by your side I will never let anything like that happen or need to happen again.”

She eyed him askance. “I don’t need protecting. I’ve done that well enough on my own for the last seventy years.” She pursed her lips. “What I need is a friend. Someone I can trust.”

“That I thought I was already doing,” he said, leaning forward more. “I didn’t say that to be a knight in front of you, I said it as a person by your side ready to face anythin’.”

She looked at him stunned. “E-even if that means I might put your entire group in jeopardy if that fey finds out I’m with you?”

“I would die before I let that Fey touch you.” he said, his eyes narrowing.

She looked away. Her voice came out in a whisper as she said “That’s what I’m afraid of.” She bit her lip and looked back at his eyes, unaware of what she was about to say until she’d already said it. “I quite like you Geoff Lowe. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“And I couldn’t bear to see you sad or worse. Death will have to take a number for all I care. I won’t be going with him for a long time,” he said his face full of determination.

For the first time in her life, Tiatha felt free to process her emotions down to the last drop of fear. But among those was a growing sense of something she’d never really understood or felt capable of showing. A warm spark lit up somewhere in her chest and, for the first time in her two-hundred and seventy some-odd years of living, she felt  _ safe _ . She reached out to grab him by the shirt, burying her face in his chest as she sobbed. She felt his arms wrap around her as his hand ran up and down her back, soothing her amongst the leaves.


End file.
